Would you trade Highsmith and Okorafor?

The get a clue ....was from His colonel mustard post. LoL. He's pulling Your leg.

 

Their QB is on a rookie deal, I think they will be alright regarding the salary cap.

 

Educate yourself on what green font means on this board

 

WILL DO. THANKS.

 

LOL Thanks STD. It's from the boardgame Cluedo.

 

Highsmith is under contract for 23. They don't have to do shat. He plays it out then franchise him if they can't come to an agreement on an extension.

 

We’d get more, but you saw what happened last year when we didn’t have Watt. A one leg, one arm Watt helped our D played better than his healthy replacement

 

No

 

There not alright. They are already up against the cap with a QB on a rookie contract.

 

Very valid points here. I would not want to lose Highsmith. All I was trying to do with this exercise is to look outside the box and plan for the future. The bottom line is you have to hit on some of the later rounds to truly fill out your roster. Hitting on the top two rounds and then paying these guys second contracts is very difficult because of the Cap. The last thing I want to see is to lose a talent like Highsmith without getting compensation in return.

Speaking of the Cap, what is really puzzling to me is all of these Rumors about the Steelers potentially trading for a high priced free agent CB like a Jalen Ramsey. That doesn’t make sense to me at all when you have a guy in Sutton who is younger and cheaper and proven in your system. Not only that but you have future pending free agents like Highsmith who are going to command top dollar to be resigned. With how deep the draft is in the secondary the whole Ramsey thing makes no sense. Why wouldn’t they be looking at ILB and DL in free agency where thise areas are particularly strong in Free Agency and weak in the draft?

A Jalen Ramsey type of signing is one that you do if your one player away from being a contender. The Steelers are not that. I feel like we have a lot of holes to fill and not enough cap space nor draft capital to fill those holes, so I was simply trying to think of alternative ways to increase both our draft capital and future cap space.

 

Say four our Steelers for pentence

 

In a couple of weeks they will have plenty of cap space once the new league year starts, I'm not worried about it.

 

ChatGPT maybe

 

i'm not either, and sadly, in another year, Cam will be off the books. they pay NO ONE on offense. it's not that hard, really.

 

Super Bowls? We can’t even win a playoff game

 

Yep and that cap space will be eaten up by signing Sutton and Edmunds. The sad thing is I think they are three players short in the secondary and with the signing of Sutton and Edmunds they will definitely not invest a draft pick at CB in the early rounds and it is frustrating because this is a really good draft to pick up a CB. I really hope we ad a solid piece at ILB or DL in addition to Sutton and Edmunds in free agency this year. I don’t know if we will have the cap space to that even with the cuts. I wasn’t all that enamored with Ogunjobi or Jack and I think there are better options out there in Free Agency that would be comparable in price to what we paid these or are paying these guys. Regarding Highsmith the smart thing to do is draft an edge fairly high this year and see how the guy does. If he shows promise then you have some leverage going into next season with Highsmith. I just don’t see the Steelers putting that much money into the edge position when they already have a ton of money in it. Highsmith is good but all you need is a compliment piece in there that will benefit from Watt being double teamed. Highsmith definitely isn’t as good when Watt isn’t in there.

When I posed this question I should have posed it as follows?
Would you rather have Highsmith on a second contract and a promising DT rookie or would you rather have Deron Payne on a second contract and a promising Edge rookie plus the extra pick in the third round. I think I would take Deron Payne, a promising rookie (from the second round capital you get from trading Highsmith) and an extra third round pick from trading Highsmith.

The same goes for Okorafor. Would you rather have a cap savings and trade him for a fourth or fifth and get the big RT from Ohio State or keep Okorafor and over pay him for the next two years?

None of this makes sense if you can’t replace those guys with high pedigree draft picks and save money on the cap all the while spending that cap savings on another high area of need. In addition the question has to be asked. Is the potential this year more promising in getting a high pedigree DT or Edge player. I would suggest the potential is much higher to get a solid Edge player with the high quality and quantity of Edge players in this draft relative to DT.

You make bold moves like these in the context of how the overall free agency landscape and draft looks like you can really position your team much better from a team building standpoint. Sometimes holding on to promising assets isn’t the best option when you look at the big picture. Everybody is sarcastic in their comments without really considering the big picture and only have a quick knee jerk reaction.

 

All kidding aside, if someone was lining up 3 x first round picks plus more I’d really have to consider it. He’s going to be 29 this year.

 

They can have over 40 million in cap space easily with a few cuts and restructures, and no most of that money won't be going to Sutton and Edmunds, I doubt they will want to meet Payne's asking price.

 

The NFL set the cap at $224.8 million
Dates to Remember
- Teams have to place franchise tags on players by March 7
- Teams have until 4 p.m. ET on March 15 to be under the 2023 salary cap.
- After 4 p.m. ET, teams can officially begin signing contracts with unrestricted free agents.
* Teams will also have between noon March 13 and 4 p.m. ET on March 15 to negotiate with impending unrestricted free agents, but official deals cannot be agreed until after the cap deadline.

Pittsburgh is under ~$168,000.000 (some have us over by ~$138,000.00)
The top 5 Cap hits for us:

1. TJ Watt - ~13%. In '21 he signed a big contract, they should be able to extend or rework his contract to a little more friendly numbers, he's worth it.

2. Heyward is about the same. He's 34 so I'm not so sure what kind of restructure they could do that he would agree to. Again, a worthy player.

3. DJ - He signed a big contract in 2022 and to be honest, took some steps back. Granted he started with Trubisky and then a Rookie in Pickett. His numbers go up in 24 and 25.

4. Okorafor - 5th year guy with a year left. I don't think he will renegotiate nor should we.

5. Jackson - traded for late.. $12 mil for a 30-year old CB? Cutting him is $0 Dead Cap. OR negotiate a friendly number should you think he's worth a couple years.

You could clear $12 mil pretty easily. I could see getting to 20$mil with a little work.
From there, it's probably case by case, they see someone they want, then release someone...
Tough to figure what they actually do.

 

What is the Draft value of Highsmith? Highsmith's Tag for 1 year would be over $20 million for next year.

I can't see the Steelers paying over $50 million for the OLB Position next year. (Watt & Highsmith)

Then there is all the Bud rumors that are flying around about his comeback, and now we just saw the entire Steeler staff attend Iowa States pro day so they could watch OLB Will McDonald IV workout.

Highsmith's value is not going to go any higher than it is now. Time to Sell?

 

Sure

Let’s trade away the young guys when they are just getting a good

 

knee, shoulder, ribs, pec tear. DPOY two years ago. difference maker on defense but for how much longer. injuries take their toll to even the best. highsmith is not the guy to move as he gets better. bud is in the same boat as TJ. good players when healthy but for how long and will they ever regain where they were at one time and how much is that worth? availability has to come into play. getting guys in the pipeline now on rookie deals would be the way to go, not going backwards to what was. cam hasn't had those problems with injury and is why he can still play at 34. at what point, if injured and missing time again do you look at making a move on TJ? 1 year, two years from now? this will be the most difficult decision they will make soon enough. not highsmith at this point.

 

So you want to sell 14.5 sacks away? 5 forced fumbles? One of the most important position group pieces for this Defense? Highsmith has taken steps way beyond who he replaced in a shorter time frame. If they can't make a deal they will franchise him next season. Its early yet and they have till the 1st game to get something done.

Khan and Tomlin were at the Iowa Pro Day and I believe they were there looking at Jack Campbell OLBer which some mocks are placing him to them at pick 49.

METALMAN_68 might know a thing or two about Campbell.

Need a young swing OLBer to come in and join the sack party and help spell the starters and if called upon can at least play respectable and not just look like a body filler.